http://abcnews.go.com:80/sections/science/DailyNews/computer_readmind990113.
html
Device Allows Paralyzed People To Write Sentences
L O N D O N Jan. 13 — A device that reads brain
waves through the skull has enabled paralyzed
people to write sentences on a computer screen,
scientists said today.
Several teams around the world are developing
systems to allow “locked in” patients to communicate,
New Scientist magazine reported.
Two patients have managed to write messages on a
computer screen via electrodes planted in the brain by
researchers at Emory University in Atlanta.
Because brain surgery involves the risk of infection or
hemorrhage, other groups are trying to develop systems
that do not require implants.
Now researchers in Germany and the United States
have placed small electrodes on top of patients’ heads to
record signals from the brain.
Once patients learn to control the computer cursor in
this way, they can begin to write messages.
The cursor is used to select characters and researchers
found patients could write a short sentence in about half
an hour.
“We’ve got patients writing messages who couldn’t
communicate at all,” said Edward Taub of the University
of Alabama at Birmingham.
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